Revenge
by SocialGraceful
Summary: A man comes onto Serenity, from River's past and causes Simon to do something unthinkable.


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Revenge

"Welcome aboard," Mal said with a hearty smile for his latest passenger.

The old man walked into the ship and disappeared towards the passenger dorms. Mal watched him go and shrugged, he then began to go through the man's things.

"So, our latest passenger is going to bed?" Zoe said as she walked up to him.

"I guess so, don't really care, I'm going through his things to make sure that he doesn't have a gun or a bomb or something else to kill us with," Mal said.

Serenity lifted off and flew into space.

"You seem awfully happy about him," Zoe said.

"Well, I expect that he'll bring us a heap of trouble, but for what he's paying us I don't really care," Mal said.

"Hm," Zoe said.

"He's paying us in platinum, Zoe. To take him a day into the black. I can't turn that down. He also told me to look through his things to make sure there aren't any surprises. I don't know what he's running from and I don't care."

"What if he don't need no weapons to kill us?"

"We'll put a bullet to him. Plain and simple."

Simon had been confined to his quarters because of the guest and the possibility of discovery. But he was becoming uncomfortable sitting in his room. He could hear River crying on the other side of the thin wall. He didn't want her to be alone, so he got up and left his room looking around briefly. It was then that he saw that he was too late and the man was coming towards him.

"Hello," he said and passed him as if he was no trifle at all.

"Hi," Simon said.

The man went into his dorm and laid down, closing the door behind him. Simon looked at the door and then knocked on River's door.

"River, it's me, let me in," Simon said.

The door slid open, Simon went in quickly and quietly.

"River, what's wrong?" Simon asked.

She was sitting on her bed, rocking back and forth. It was so strange thinking of her as a hired killer when she could be broken up so easily like this. He held her as she rocked.

"Back," she said. "Coming to take me back, lost in the wilderness, he led me there and left me. Lions and tigers oh my God, he's there, he's back. Don't want to go. Torture... blood, in my brain always... touching what isn't his, it's mine don't take... me..."

"River... what are you talking about?" Simon asked.

"The man in Dorm 5."

"Did he do something to you?"

The poor girl, her mind all jumbled up. She needed to do something, she needed to say a single word, she was full of them, she could sing and make her body do the same. She wanted to just say the word but it wouldn't come up. Her mind wouldn't let it happen. She forced it.

"Yes," she said.

Simon's eyes went wide.

"I... I have to go... River," Simon said.

He got up from the bed and looked at her. He walked back into the hall and stared at the door. There were barriers in his mind, they were cracking now though. Things were going to happen soon.

"Simon?" a voice called to him.

"Yes?" he answered after a while.

He looked at Kaylee staring at him.

"What's going on? You look so happy," Kaylee said.

"Do I?"

"Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen you look like that."

"I'm fine... I'm great."

He walked off without another word.

"Okay..." Kaylee said.

Simon found Mal standing in the cockpit with Jayne, Zoe, Book and Wash.

"What is it?" Mal asked.

"What do you know about that man that you let on the ship?" Simon asked.

"I know that he's like my other pair of nuisances, he doesn't want the Alliance to find him."

"Ah."

"Something bothering you, doctor?" Mal asked.

"Nothing."

He walked off.

"The pair of them are just spooky if you ask me," Jayne said.

"I think we ought to keep an eye on the young doctor for the time being," Book said.

"Why do you say that, shepherd?" Zoe said.

"I don't care why," Mal said. "Just make sure someone has an eye on him for the rest of the time that man's onboard."

It was much later, the man rose and left his room. He saw someone peeking out of the room at him. When he looked the door slammed shut. He didn't know what that was about so he shrugged before going on about his day. He walked to the cargo bay, looking around at the darkness surrounding the place.

Kaylee came climbing out of her room and began looking around. Mal passed by.

"What's going on, Kaylee?" he asked.

"I can't find my wrench," Kaylee said. "I usually keep it under my pillow but I can't seem to find it... have you seen River?"

"No, I haven't."

Something popped in Mal's head.

"Where's the doctor?" Mal asked.

"What are you talking about?" Kaylee asked.

River suddenly stopped crying and looked up.

"Violence, blood, anger, rage, revenge, revenge. REVENGE!" she screamed.

"He's not here," Kaylee said.

Mal cursed in Chinese. He saw a blur of pale pink, blue and black go rushing past him.

"Follow her!" Mal yelled.

"What is going on?" Kaylee yelled.

A scream ripped through the ship.

The man looked through his things, he couldn't find the book that he was looking for. It was then that something struck him from behind. He looked up to see the young man that he had seen before. The man had a wrench in one hand and a gun in the other.

"Who are you?" Simon demanded of him.

"Why did you hit me?" the man asked blood oozing from the wound in the back of his head.

"Who are you?"

"Go to hell!"

"Fine, let me tell you who I am, my name is Simon Tam. My sister's name is River. Do you remember, River Tam?"

"My God... you're one of the Tams..."

"Who are you?"

"Son... think about this please... I'm an old man."

"I will put a bullet through some place that is not vital but will hurt more than anything you ever imagined. Now talk!"

"My name is Armando Donovan. Dr. Armando Donovan... I worked for the Alliance for nearly my entire career..."

"What was your specialty?"

"Neurosurgery!"

"Were you part of the project?"

"What project?"

"Stop that! She's a psychic, she recognized you almost instantly! Now, what did you do to her!"

"I'm sorry... it was just... I did my duty. They told me that she was extraordinary. That she was something we could use... I did what I had to do."

"You mutilated her! You drove her to madness! You made her this way!"

He struck him again and again. He heard the bones in the arm crack under the swings of his wrench. The man rolled over, his hand landing on the floor. Simon jammed the heel into Armando's fingers. The man let out a scream.

It was a matter of seconds that everyone soon stood around him. River was staring at her brother who stood over the man, the wrench looking poised to smash his skull in. Everyone started to yell at him to put the wrench down, some of them asking what was going on.

"Simon, you don't want to do this," Mal said.

"He was one of the men who tortured, River. He's responsible for all her pain. It's all his fault!" Simon yelled.

"I just want to find some place to live alone and die," Armando said. "I don't want anything else than that. You don't know how painful it was to do those things to her! They threatened to kill me if I didn't do what they asked me! When I ran, they started chasing me. I just want to live out my days in shame!"

"And you think you deserve that?" Simon asked.

"No, but I know I did wrong!"

"Son, this isn't you, you're a doctor, you don't kill, you heal," Book said.

"Simon... please... don't do this," Kaylee said.

"I have had enough of all this," Mal said and pulled his gun, leveling it at Simon's back. "Son, put those weapons down or I will put a bullet to you and then your sister."

Simon was taken aback for a moment.

"You wouldn't dare," he said turning to him.

"Try me."

"Why? Why would you want to spare this man?"

"I'm not one for revenge."

"Not one for revenge? Don't hand me that! You kill for worse reasons than this! Why are you on your high horse?"

"I'm not asking, I'm telling, there won't be any killing coming out of you."

He pointed the gun now at River.

"This is violence," Mal said. "You want to start that?"

He looked up and saw that Inara was now standing on the balcony looking down at them.

Simon looked at his sister with the gun to her head. He looked down at Armando laying in a pool of his own blood. He was staring at Simon his eyes wide. River was crying, he couldn't figure out why. He figured that she was scared of the gun to her head and the voice of the captain, which was much darker than anyone had heard it before. He looked between them and Armando. It was a moment when a man realizes that he is at some form of a crossroad. He made his decision.

"What was I about to do?" Simon said and walked back to the others.

Kaylee and River each took an arm. Jayne grabbed at his weapons, taking them away so that the two of them could lead him away from the cargo bay.

Armando climbed to his knees.

"Thank you for that..." he said.

Mal who was watching Simon leave the cargo bay, pointed his gun at Armando and fired. The bullet struck him in the forehead. The body slumped over.

Simon turned around to stare at him.

"You get going," Mal said.

Simon nodded at him. The three left the cargo bay. The others looked at him. They nodded at him also.

"Shepherd, do you prayers, then throw the trash out into space," Mal said.

He left the cargo bay in a way that allowed him to go to his room.

Simon sat in his room, his head in his hands.

"I can't believe I was going to kill him," he said.

"You were very angry," Kaylee said. "I mean, anyone would be if they did that to someone they cared about."

"I took an oath though... I made sure that my mind would never open up to that option. Not like that anyway. I think I'm just a bad person... despite everything I try to do... what if that's the real me? This violent killer."

"Captain's orders, we put him out the lock into space," Jayne said walking into the room as if someone had asked him what was going on.

Jayne looked the doctor over.

"That was quite a beating you gave him," Jayne said. "Never thought you would even be able to lift that wrench let alone hit someone with it."

He looked at Simon again and smirked.

"Funny thing is, I've killed a lot of people in my time, never seen someone go at it so haphazardly," Jayne said. "You're pretty damn smart when it comes to doctoring and being a dumbass who gets himself hurt trying to be brave but... you shouldn't build a life on making money killing. It would be pretty damn stupid. You don't have it in ya."

Jayne smiled and left the room. The other three sat staring at the empty space that he had left.

"I think that was Jayne trying to be nice," Kaylee said.

"I never thought that that could happen..." Simon said.

Jayne laid down feeling pretty damn good about himself. He pulled a picture of his family back home off one of his shelves. It was him, mama, papa and Matty. He touched her face. The doctor and him disagreed on a lot of things. Especially when it came to living life. But he thought about his sister and the man that was just killed.

He would probably have done the same as the doctor.

"Come in," Mal said as he sat on his bed.

Inara came climbing down his ladder.

"Now this is a change," Mal said. "Usually it's me coming into your room."

"I wanted to talk to you about that thing you did down there," Inara said.

"Why? Come to tell me that I'm a horrible man?"

"No, the opposite in fact, you might be the most honorable man that I've ever met."

"Honorable men don't kill the way I did."

"They do if it stops another good man from living with that on his conscience."

"Not surprised that you came to that conclusion."

"You don't like the doctor much, do you?"

"No."

"Then why help him like that?"

"The man... he helps everyone regardless. Besides that sister of his... she might be cracked and broken but... she could have been good. She was probably sweet before all that happened. Just a kid..."

Inara stared at him.

"Know what I think?" Inara said. "I think that everyone on here represents something that you've lost... lost in the war. Kaylee's your innocence, Zoe's your ability to love someone, Book's your faith, Jayne is your greed, Wash is your happiness and the Tams... they're your ability to help others and not always think of yourself. Your selflessness."

Mal first at thought to argue with her.

"Might be true," he mumbled.

"I don't think you lost all those things, Mal, they just ended up in different directions," Inara said.

"Could be."

Inara put her hands and feet on the rungs of the ladder.

"What does that make you then?" Mal asked.

"Simple," she said with a sly smile. "Your love of beautiful things. And unachievable dreams."

He smiled as she climbed out of his room.


End file.
